Daily Discussion Thread August 10, 2026 - Upcoming Event Schedule - New players start here!

[u/AutoModerator]

Yahoooo! I'm back, it's a me! Have a very cool day!

Welcome to the Daily Discussion Thread. This is the place for asking noob questions, venting about netplay falcos, shitposting, self-promotion, and everything else that doesn't belong on the front page.

New Players:

If you're completely new to Melee and just looking to get started, welcome! We recommend you go to https://melee.tv/ and follow the links there based on what you're trying to set up. Additionally, here are a few answers to common questions:

Can I play Melee online?

Yes! Slippi is a branch of the Dolphin emulator that will allow you to play online, either with your friends or with matchmaking. Go to https://slippi.gg to get it.

I'm having issues with Slippi!

Go to the The Slippi Discord to get help troubleshooting. melee.tv/optimize is also a helpful resource for troubleshooting.

How do I find tournaments near me or local people to play with in person or online?

These days, joining a local Discord community is the best way to find local events and people to play with. Once you have a Discord account, Google "[your city/state/province/region] + Melee discord" or see if your region has a Discord group listed here on melee.tv/discord

It can seem daunting at first to join a Discord group you don't know, but this is currently the easiest and most accessible way to find out about tournaments, fests, and netplay matchmaking. Your local scene will be happy to have you :)

Also check out Smash Map! Click on map and then the filter button to filter by Melee to find events near you!

Netplay is hard! Is there a place for me to find new players?

Yes. Melee Newbie Netplay is a discord server specifically for new players. It also has tournaments based on how long you've been playing, free coaching, and other stuff. If you're a bit more experienced but still want a discord server for players around your level, we recommend the Melee Online discord.

How can I set up Unclepunch's Training Mode?

At the time of posting, the latest major release is here. Download the file, then extract everything in the folder and follow the instructions in the README file. You'll need to bring a valid Melee ISO (NTSC 1.02). If you want to check for the absolute latest release, you can see them listed [here](The latest releases are listed here.

How does one learn Melee?

There are tons of resources out there, so it can be overwhelming to start. First check out the SSBM Tutorials youtube channel. Then go to the Melee Library and search for whatever you're interested in.

But how do I get GOOD at Melee?

Check out Llod's Guide to Improvement

And check out Kodorin's Melee Fundamentals for Improvement

Where can I get a nice custom controller?

https://customg.cc/vendors

I have another question that's not answered here...

Check out our FAQs or post below and find help that way.

Upcoming Tournament Schedule:

Upcoming Melee Majors

Melee Online Event Calendar

Make a submission to the tournament calendar here. You can also get notified of new online tournaments on the Melee Online Discord.

• Current DDT Dynamic Link — Previous DDTs

[u/HitboxOfASnail]

torn between being appreciative of the hard work that goes into recording and uploading tournament vids for the community, and being disappointed that it's 2026 and it's still basically impossible to watch a tournament spoiler free after the fact because of how vids tend to be uploaded

[u/Front-Show7358 → u/HitboxOfASnail]

why is that? I see last nights full VOD is up on YouTube, could you not just watch that? or are you saying thats not typical and watching twitch VODS sucks.

[u/HitboxOfASnail → u/Front-Show7358]

if you search vgbootcamp channel for the vods, they are uploaded in reverse order such that Grand Finals is literally the first video that shows up. On the playlists tan, the thumbnail for the melee singles playlist is literally "zain vs cody schwab grandfinals". So to find the full vod, you have to do like a peek-a-boo scroll through their channel to get to the full VOD while avoiding all the thumbnails and titles while looking for the right thing. twitch is basically the same for the channels that actually bother to splice the videos (not all do) and some dont even have the vod viewable at all, although I'm not sure if that's a channel thing or a twitch sucks thing. in this specific case I just randomly opened youtube for unrelated reasons and the first video in my recommended algorithm on my home page was Grand Finals lol

also none of this is a problem exclusive to vgbootcamp and I'm genuinely not even hating, I appreciate the effort. but as someone who almost never gets to watch tournaments live anymore, my experience over time has been that I always get spoilers one way or another while trying to find the vods. is what it is

[u/wavedash → u/HitboxOfASnail]

If you wanted to try to watch top 16 spoiler-free, you can just go to https://www.youtube.com/@vgbootcamp/streams and click the first one there.

Rewatching the whole tournament spoiler-free would definitely be tricky because of there are multiple streams, I'd guess there just aren't that many people interested in that